A Guardian article from December 15 called on readers to suggest their own nominations for Person of the Year, after Tesla boss Elon Musk was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Readers were invited to fill in a form with their nominations. Some Twitter users then claimed that the publication held a poll that saw Rowling the most-voted for individual, leading to the poll being pulled. A line at the bottom of the original article reads “this form has been deactivated and is closed to any further submissions,” which was used by hoaxers as “evidence” of there being a pulled poll....

It’s OK to openly wonder when and if we’ll see Fournette on the field again, at least with the Tigers. Fournette, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate who rushed for 1,953 yards and 22 TDs in 2015, is still battling a high-ankle injury and will miss his third game on Saturday. “I know he wants to play,” LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron said on the SEC teleconference Wednesday. “When he’s fully healthy; I expect him to have a great rest of season....

For example, take one of the TV ads for Ameritrade. Two young suburbanites dash back from jogging. One of them sweeps her daughter off the computer (“Mama’s gotta trade!”). Click click, she checks her little biotech stock. “Wow, market’s up!” Click, sell and grin: “I think I just made about $1,700!” Her friend confesses, “I have mutual funds.” Poor thing. How middle-aged. E*Trade ran a commercial showing a snotty stockbroker shutting his mansion door in your face....

Twitter users are celebrating the “Jack the Ripper”–based release, but it actually has nothing to do with Jack. This “Ripper” is actually the Yorkshire Ripper, his real name is Peter Sutcliffe. He killed 13 women in the U.K.—mainly sex workers—between 1975 and 1980, and he attempted to kill seven others. Sutcliffe was then captured by police in 1981 and spent the remainder of his life in prison. He died very recently from COVID-19....

Injured Bale ruled out of Bayern clash The Welsh winger ultimately proved his critics wrong in his debut campaign with Los Blancos, scoring vital goals in the final of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey as Madrid won both of those trophies. But a disappointing second season saw more doubts and despite winning the Champions League again last year, not everyone is convinced. Coach Zinedine Zidane has said from day one that his idea is to play with the ‘BBC’ trident featuring Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Frenchman has remained true to his word when all three are fit....

The Colombia international is presently in the midst of a two-year spell at the Allianz Arena and has recently won praise for fine displays. Rummenigge hailed former coach Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked earlier in the season, for attracting the 26-year-old to the club, but rejected claims that the Bavarians have already decided to buy the former Monaco and Porto star, whose clause is valued at €42 million. “He has developed excellently, especially since Jupp Heynckes took over....

The Cubs stayed hot Saturday with a come-from-behind win over the Pirates keyed by a moon-shot home run off the bat of last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, Kris Bryant. According to Fox Sports, Bryant’s solo homer had an exit velocity of 110 mph with a launch angle of 29 degrees, resulting in a 448-foot blast, the second-longest homer for the Cubs this year. MORE: Cubs draft pick pitches shutout at College World Series...

As Premier League interest in him grew back in 2014, a man who emerged out of the academy system at Portuguese side Sporting had several options to consider. United were among those eager to do a deal, but a 20-year-old Dier opted to link up with a Spurs side prepared to put its faith in youth. Having impressed in England, fresh terms were then signed in September 2016, with that deal contributing towards the Red Devils being knocked back again in the summer of 2017 – with Daniel Levy in a stronger position to fend off interest from Old Trafford....

Bush, speaking with a small group of business reporters at the White House, volunteered twice that he’s not gearing up for a new conflict in response to a question about the future costs of the war on terror. “I have no specific operation in mind at this point in time,” the president said, adding a few minutes later, “I can’t think of a specific moment or a specific incident that would require military action as we speak....

“I do not feel vindication. I am stunned that we haven’t been able to win more games without Tony,’’ Jones said after his team forced itself and its eight losses back into the NFC East race by beating Washington 19-16. MORE: Best Week 13 photos | NFL playoff picture after Week 13 “I would have thought that we could coach it up enough, put it together enough, that we would not have lost those games without Romo early, and we’d be in better shape than where we are right now....

The Merseysiders were abject in a 1-0 League Cup semi-final defeat at Southampton; the first-leg scoreline only respectable courtesy of Loris Karius’ service between the sticks. Lacking direction, explosiveness and intelligence, the performance at St Mary’s was the anthesis of what Liverpool expect of themselves. And they will be well aware of their fortune in exiting the south coast without more damage to circumvent in the home tie. Liverpool behind after Redmond strike...

Spain’s all-time top goalscorer has been immense in MLS, scoring 65 goals in 98 games, which earned him a recall to the international team after a three-year absence. La Roja manager Julen Lopetegui is just another top football personality coming to realise that MLS has a lot to offer and has moved on from the days when aging European players could sleepwalk through games and pick up a good salary while living in the sunshine....

Football’s governing body has denied claims that some of the balls are heated or cooled before the draw to ensure certain teams are kept apart in the draw, ensuring they have a better chance of progressing to the knockout stages. FIFA director of competitions Chris Unger has come out strongly to insist that the draw is random and no bias is given to particular teams. “There’s no truth to that,” Unger said, as reported by Sky Sports....

“‘Do you really want the kid? Is he one of your guys, or is he THE guy?’ And if he said, ‘Cal, this is the guy’ – what did I do? I recruited somebody else,” Calipari told Sporting News in a conversation last month. “I’m not going to waste my time. So now I wanted that job, to where I could be that guy.” MORE: 15 best coaches | Kings’ rumored interest in Calipari | “Take down the flag,” he says...

Henry Josey ran for 92 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 16-yarder with 3:08 left, and Shane Ray returned a fumbled 73 yards for a touchdown after that, and the No. 9 Tigers beat No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-31 late Friday night. The former Big 12 and Big Eight rivals traded points on six consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter, until Oklahoma State quarterback Clint Chelf was sacked and fumbled with a minute left....

ZAKARIA: There are still people who say that the science on global warming is still unclear. How do you react to that kind of talk? PACHAURI: Well, the calculations are so simple that even a high school kid can do them. The 20th century sea level rise was about 17 centimeters. Our predictions for the end of this century are 18 to 59 centimeters. So even if we end up somewhere in the middle, we have a pretty serious crisis on our hands....

Lymphomas are cancers of lymph cells, a type of blood cell. There are two main categories—Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma is one of the uncommon types of NHL. It is a type of low-grade (or slow-growing) lymphoma that arises from B-cells and mainly affects lymph nodes. In addition, nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma mainly affects older individuals. There are no known direct risk factors for this lymphoma but a few risk factors associated with lymphomas in general....

Florida Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission [FWC] officers found the amphibian while doing a routine survey of the Tamiami Canal, said the Florida Museum of Natural History. Having never seen the creature before, the officers sent a photo of the worm-like amphibian to Coleman Sheehy, Florida Museum’s herpetology collection manager. He identified the creature as Typhlonectes natans, better known as the Rio Cauca caecilian. The caecilian died in captivity, but its body was sent to Sheehy for further analysis....